Renewal of anti-government protests in Bangladesh left nearly 100 dead and hundreds injured.
DHAKA, Bangladesh: Nearly 100 people were killed and hundreds more were killed in renewed anti-government protests across Bangladesh on Sunday, with protesters calling for the resignation of the prime minister and their prime minister for “vandalism” and shutting down cellphone internet in a building. accused Attempts to suppress unrest
The country's leading Bengali-language newspaper, Prothom Alo, said at least 95 people, including at least 14 police officers, were killed in the violence. Channel 24 news agency reported that at least 85 people were killed.
The army announced that the new Sunday evening curfew will be in effect indefinitely, including in the capital, Dhaka, and other district and district headquarters. The government had earlier imposed a curfew in Dhaka and other places with some exceptions.
Demonstrators are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following protests last month that began with students calling for an end to the quota system for government jobs. The demonstration turned violent, leaving more than 200 dead.
As the violence escalated, Hasina said the protesters who committed “vandalism” were no longer students but criminals, and she said people should deal with them with an iron hand.
The ruling Awami League party said the demand for Hasina's resignation showed that the protests had been hijacked by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the now-banned Jamaat-e-Islami party.
Also, on Sunday, the government declared a holiday from Monday to Wednesday. Courts were to be closed indefinitely. The mobile internet service was interrupted and Facebook and messaging applications including WhatsApp were inaccessible.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Mohammad Ali Arafat said the service was cut to help prevent violence.
At least 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks. The unrest has also led to the closure of schools and universities across the country, with authorities at one point enforcing a curfew with gunfire.
Protesters called for a “non-cooperation” effort, urging people not to pay taxes or utility bills and not to report to work on Sunday, a working day in Bangladesh. Offices, banks and factories reopened, but commuters in Dhaka and other cities faced challenges getting to their jobs.
Demonstrators stormed Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, a major public hospital in Dhaka's Shahbagh area, and set fire to several vehicles.
Video footage shows protesters vandalizing a prison van at the Metropolitan Court in Dhaka. Other videos show police firing bullets, rubber bullets and tear gas into the crowd. Protesters set cars and offices of the ruling party on fire. According to television footage, some were carrying sharp weapons and sticks.
In Dhaka's Uttara neighborhood, police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of people blocking a major highway. Protesters stormed homes and vandalized a social welfare office in the area, where hundreds of ruling party activists took a stand. Witnesses said some crude bombs exploded and gunshots were heard. In the east, 20 people were shot in the area.
At least 18 people were killed in Sirajganj district in the northwest of the country. According to police headquarters in Dhaka, this figure includes 13 police officers who died after protesters attacked the police station. Another officer was killed in Comilla East district, police said.
Five people were killed in the technical area in the southeast of Bangladesh as a result of the clashes between supporters of Hasina and protesters.
Asif Iqbal, a resident medical officer at a government hospital in Fani, told reporters that they had five bodies in the hospital, all of which had been shot. It was not clear whether they were protesters or activists of the ruling party.
In Munshiganj district near Dhaka, four people died after being rushed to the hospital, according to hospital official Abu Hanna.
Jamuna TV news channel reported that violent clashes broke out in more than a dozen districts, including Chattogram, Bogora, Magura, Rangpur, Kishoreganj and Sirajganj, where protesters backed by the main opposition party clashed with police and activists of the ruling Awami League. The party and its related institutions
Protests began last month as students demanded an end to a quota system that reserved 30 percent of government jobs for families of veterans who fought in Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence against Pakistan.
As the violence escalated, the country's Supreme Court ruled that the quota for veterans should be reduced to 5% and 93% of jobs should be allocated based on merit. The remaining 2 percent is reserved for members of ethnic minorities, transgender people, and people with disabilities. The government accepted the decision, but protesters continue to demand accountability for the violence, which they blame on the government's use of force.
The system also includes jobs for members of ethnic minorities and disabled and transgender people, whose quota has been reduced from 26 percent to 2 percent in the decree.
Hasina's government has blamed the opposition parties and their student branches for inciting the violence, during which several government institutions were also set on fire or destroyed.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the secretary general of the main opposition party, repeatedly called for the resignation of the government to stop the chaos.
On Saturday, Hasina offered to talk to the student leaders, but one of the coordinators refused and announced a one-point demand for her resignation.
Hasina repeated her promise to investigate the death and punish those responsible for the violence. He said he was ready to sit whenever the protesters wanted.
These protests have become a big challenge for Hasina, who has ruled the country for more than 15 years. He was returned to power for a fourth consecutive term in January in elections boycotted by his main opponents.
